ARTICLES ABOUT OVERDOSE BY DATE - PAGE 2

If confirming evidence of the ruinous power of opiate addiction was needed, we now have the wasted life of the genius actor Philip Seymour Hoffman - George Willis Jr. in "Scent of a Woman," Phil Parma in "Magnolia," Art Howe in "Moneyball," and a superb Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman" on Broadway less than two years ago. Hoffman was accomplished and respected, hailed as the greatest actor of his generation, and he presumably had wealth....

The death this weekend of acclaimed actor Philip Seymour Hoffman from an apparent drug overdose has left his fans and colleagues in the film industry devastated by the loss of a great talent at so young an age. Mr. Hoffman was 46 when he was found dead in his New York apartment Sunday with a hypodermic needle stuck in his arm and packets of what appeared to be heroin nearby. His tragedy was a reminder that heroin addiction has many faces, from the rich and famous to people of severely limited means.

The death this weekend of acclaimed actor Philip Seymour Hoffman from an apparent drug overdose has left his fans and colleagues in the film industry devastated by the loss of a great talent at so young an age. Mr. Hoffman was 46 when he was found dead in his New York apartment Sunday with a hypodermic needle stuck in his arm and packets of what appeared to be heroin nearby. His tragedy was a reminder that heroin addiction has many faces, from the rich and famous to people of severely limited means.

Heroin laced with the synthetic opioid fentanyl has killed 37 Marylanders since September, state health officials said today. The deaths, reported by Maryland's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, accounted for 12 percent of the 318 overdose deaths during that time. The deaths raise concerns because fentanyl is estimated to be 80 times more powerful than morphine and 100 times more potent than heroin, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Fentanyl greatly increases the risk of death from overdose, state health officials said.

Drug dealers are lacing heroin with the potent painkiller fentanyl, creating a deadly cocktail that is killing unknowing users - sometimes within minutes of use. The drug combination has killed dozens of people in several states, prompting law enforcement and health officials to issue warnings about its danger. The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said Friday that 37 Marylanders had died since September of overdoses after taking the drug mixture. The deaths accounted for 12 percent of 318 overdose deaths in the past four months.

Heroin overdose deaths soared last year in Baltimore, a city that has struggled with one of the highest rates of heroin addiction in the nation and with the violence that comes with illegal drug dealing. In 2012, 126 people died in the city from heroin overdoses, a jump of 66 percent from the previous year, when 76 died, reversing recent declines, according to a Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene report released Wednesday. The new data could confirm the recent warnings from state health officials that a crackdown on illicit prescription opiates was pushing more addicts toward the street drug.

I've learned that nandina berries kill cedar waxwings. I love birds! Should everyone cut down their nandina bushes? Those reported waxwing deaths occurred in the southern United States, where cedar waxwings overwinter. This exquisite bird happens to be a notorious glutton. It gorges itself on berries or fruit, even to the point of intoxication on overripe berries. Their first choice of diet would be native plants, but when faced with little plant diversity, those reported waxwings filled up on toxic nandina berries, which contain cyanide.

Linda Fletcher lives in fear of reliving a nightmare: a son dying from a heroin overdose. Her son Kris Klipner succumbed to the drug in 2007. He was 28. Klipner's half-brother battles the same kind of depression as Kris. He suffers the same heroin addiction Kris did. Kirk Fletcher, 29, is in a methadone program to help him avoid the drug. He says he has his addiction under control. But he understands his mother's fear that it will return - just as his brother's did. Linda Fletcher is hopeful that some relief is on the way. New legislation, pushed by Fletcher and other parents, backed by the state health department and passed unanimously this year by both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly, creates a statewide program allowing family members of addicts to be prescribed and trained in administering Naloxone.

Annapolis police have released the names of a shooting victim and two men who died of suspected drug overdoses on Sunday, all three of whom appeared to be from Calvert County. Police believe John Donnel Ray, 32, of the 4600 block of Rolling Hill Road, Huntingtown, was shot in his car in the 200 block of Victor Parkway, according to Detective Richard Truitt. He was found dead in the vehicle. He said detectives think there may be witnesses to the crime. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Charles Bealefeld at 443-986-5561.

With epidemic rates of prescription opioid and heroin deaths in Maryland, families are demanding easier access to the antidote that could save the lives of their loved ones. Naloxone is used safely to reverse the effects of heroin and prescription opioid medications. Emergency medical technicians administer naloxone when they respond to an overdose emergency. All too often, however, these emergency responders do not arrive in time. State law bars family members and friends who may be in the best position to save the life of a person experiencing an overdose from obtaining a prescription for naloxone in their own name and administering this medication in an emergency.